Just when you may have thought the ongoing battle between the 99% and the 1% was dying down, it may have been reignited. A wealthy banker left a $1.33 tip on a $133 lunch at the True Food Kitchen restaurant in Newport Beach, California.
To add insult to injury the word "tip" was circled on the receipt, and the banker wrote "get a real job" on the bill. The picture of the receipt was taken and uploaded to the blog Future Ex-Banker by a person who was dining with the anonymous banker. As expected, the blog received a lot of attention and has now been taken down. The author of the blog wrote, "mention the 99% in my boss' presence and feel his wrath. So proudly does he wear his 1% badge of honor that he tips exactly 1% every time he feels the server doesn't sufficiently bow down to his holiness."
People online who had a chance to see the blog post before it went offline and those who have been made aware of it on social media outlets are outraged. One person called the tip a "tale of greed and contempt," and another referred to it as "arrogance personified." The Web's general reaction to this story is eerily similar to an almost identical 1% vs. 99% scenario that took place last fall. In Washington state, a waitress received a tip of no money and advice scrawled on the receipt that told her she could "stand to lose a few pounds."
Our next story is more of a battle between environmentalists and big oil companies.
Lucy Lawless, most famous for her leading role in "Xena: Warrior Princess" in the '90s fantasy adventure series, was arrested over the weekend. Lawless had spent four days protesting on board a Shell oil ship with a group of six other environmental activists. The protest, organized by Greenpeace, was staged to raise awareness of oil drilling in the arctic. The global environmental organization opposes the drilling in New Zealand.
During the protest, Lawless live-tweeted what she was experiencing including, for example, "Seven of us came up the tower on Shell's drillship, but 4 days later 130,000 will come down. In solidarity we can #savethearctic." The protesters had to deal with the elements while atop the ship. The wind gusts proved difficult to withstand, but the activists held their ground. Chairman for Shell New Zealand, Rob Jager, said the protest had put people in danger. Jager also said he was disappointed that Greenpeace had not joined his company in a "productive conversation" about the drilling issue instead of protesting.
Lawless told the Associated Press that she got involved because she felt compelled to take a stand against oil drilling in the Arctic and global warming. However, the protest was brought to a halt when all of the activists were arrested and charged with burglary. Since then, more than 100,000 messages have been sent to Shell opposing its upcoming Arctic drilling plans. One supporter tweeted, "She may not be Xena in real life, but she is fighting for what she believes in." Another person tweeted that Lawless is a "true warrior princess."
